Source: China News Network
According to the Associated Press, during the equestrian individual steeplechase preliminaries of the Tokyo Olympics held on the evening of August 3, several racing horses seemed to be frightened by the sculptures on the field.
Britain’s Harry Charles said: “When you turn around, you see a big guy. Contestants said a life-size statue of a sumo wrestler was placed next to obstacle No. 10, possibly distracting several horses. The sumo wrestler hunched over and seemed ready to attack, his face facing away from the direction the racehorse was running.
Sculpture of a sumo wrestler on the equestrian venue of the Tokyo Olympics.
According to the report, multiple racehorses stopped as they approached the obstacle, resulting in runners being deducted points and unable to advance to the final.
“I did notice four or five horses being scared,” Charles said.
Most of the decorations on the arena have a distinctly Japanese style, but none stand out as much as sumo sculptures.
“It looks very realistic,” said Israel’s Teddy Flock. After seeing problems with other athletes, he made a point of getting the horse to take a good look at the sumo wrestler sculpture before starting the race, hoping that it would increase the horse’s courage.
Of course, it’s hard to know what the horse is really thinking. Some players also cited problems with the distance settings for jumps and turns, while others said the bright lights in the stadium had an impact on the game.